The Week That Was
The Kings had another positive week to begin the season going 2-1-1 this past week. Picking up five of a possible eight points, the Kings currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1-2 record. Lots of travel has taken place both to begin the season, but also this past week specifically. The Kings began the week in Canada’s capital on Monday, traveled from Ottawa to Toronto, Toronto to Montreal, Montreal back to California and concluded the week in Anaheim on Sunday.
Game Recaps:
Notable News From The Week That Was:
- Both Adrian Kempe (3-2=5) and Anze Kopitar (0-5=5) tied for the team lead in points this past week.
- Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere are tied for the team lead in goals, each with four through the first six games.
- The Kings placed Darcy Kuemper on Injured Reserve this past week (lower body). Kuemper is eligible to return for the Kings next game on Tuesday if he’s ready to go.
- David Rittich made three starts for the Kings this past week in place of the injured Kuemper and picked up two wins. Rittich stopped 50 of 56 shots faced.
- The Kings power play went 3-for-13 in the four games.
- The Kings penalty went 12-for-18 across the four games and has currently killed eight straight penalties.
The Week That Is
Almost home…. Currently six games into their season-opening seven-game road trip, the Kings are 3-1-2. Having earned at least one point in all but one game to start the season, the Kings will look to make it six out of seven on Tuesday when the close out their road trip against the Vegas Golden Knights. Upon conclusion of Tuesday’s game in Sin City, the Kings will finally return home and get ready for the 2024-25 home opener on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. A Saturday home game will follow against the newest NHL franchise the Utah Hockey Club, concluding the Kings week of upcoming games.
The Golden Knights will be awaiting the Kings come Tuesday as the two teams will face off for the first of four times this season. Set to play each other just eight day later in Los Angeles, the two foes will get a glimpse of each other once at home and once on the road once early in the season, following by two more games against each other in late February and early March.
The Golden Knights enter will Tuesday’s game 3-2-1 and are coming off of a three-game East Coast road trip where they went 0-2-1. That said, the Golden Knights have had early success on home ice with all three wins coming at T-Mobile Arena. Furthermore, the Golden Knights have averaged an impressive NHL-best 5.00 goals per game at home. As for the Golden Knights roster, it’ll be a slightly different look than the Kings have come to know. Notable offseason departures included two-time Stanley Cup Chandler Stephenson (SEA) and the Golden Knights all-time franchise leader in games (514), goals (195) and points (417) Jonathan Marchessault. Providing offense for the Golden Knights so far this season none other Jack Eichel, who is tied for fourth in the NHL in points with 10 (2-8=10). Lastly, one new face that the Kings could see on Tuesday and likely will at some point this season is goalie Ilya Samsonov. Playing backup/1B to Adin Hill, Samsonov joined the Golden Knights this summer, signing a one-year, $1.8M deal. Samsonov appeared 40 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs last session, posting a 3.13 GAA and a .890 SV%.
Two days after their playing in their first divisional game of the season, the Kings will double up the total of that and take on the San Jose Sharks in the 2024-25 home opener. Like the Golden Knights, the Kings will also face the Sharks four times this season; twice at home and twice on the road. While 0-4-2 and a goal differential of -14 to start the season, the biggest storyline surrounding the Sharks is the status of young phenom and first overall draft pick this past summer Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini, 18, appeared in the Sharks season and home opener on October 10th, but has been sidelined with a lower body injury since. Celebrini did net first career NHL goal in the lone game he played and as of Sunday, he has returned to the ice but is still deemed week-to-week. On the ice, former King Tyler Toffoli returned to California this summer after signing a four-year, $24M ($6M AAV) deal with the Sharks. Toffoli, who is now suiting up for his fourth Pacific Division currently leads the Sharks in scoring with seven points (4-3=7) across the first six games. The Sharks will play one more away game before the travel to LA, but currently hold an 0-2-1 away from SAP Center with -8 goal differential.
The last game on the Kings schedule for the coming week will be the Kings first ever meeting with the Utah Hockey Club. Formerly the Arizona Coyotes, the new home in Utah has brought life, energy and a hot start to their season. Utah is 4-1-1 through their first six games of the season and is one point behind the Winnipeg Jets for the best record in the Western Conference. With the move to Utah also came a newly appointed captain. Now wearing the “C” on his chest for the brand new franchise is Clayton Keller, the team’s leading scorer. Keller enters the 2024-25 season having notched 225 points (98-127=225) in 227 games across the past three seasons. Now six games into this season, Keller is tied for 10th in NHL in scoring with eight points (4-4=8). When Utah travels to LA for Saturday’s game, they will do so without two of their top defensemen. Beginning with John Marino, the former Devil has yet to play a game this season and won’t be for months due to an upper body injury. Utah will also be without former King Sean Durzi who had been occupying first pair minutes on the blue line. Durzi sustained an upper body injury on October 14th against the New Jersey Devils and is expected to be out for 4-5 months after undergoing surgery. One defenseman that will be on the blue line for Utah is former Lightning and two-time Stanley Cup winner Mikhail Sergachev. Sergachev was acquired from the Lightning during the 2024 NHL Draft after spending the previous seven years in Florida. The Kings and Utah will meet three times this season, twice in LA.
Upcoming games and events this week:
- 10/22 @ Vegas Golden Knights @ 8:00 PM (ESPN)
All Kings games can be heard on the ESPN LA App.
